Funambol Expands User Base for Open Source Push Email and PIM Sync

Submitted by sharonpr on November 20, 2007 - 12:00pm

Funambol, the leading provider of mobile 2.0 messaging software powered by open source, today announced an important new release that extends the addressable market for its push email and PIM sync software. Funambol v6.5 includes push optimizations, multimedia content sync, greater scalability, broader device compatibility, online portal enhancements and improved Funambol clients. These enhancements make open source push email available for many more users and improves their mobile email & PIM sync experience.

Funambol's push email and PIM sync software has been deployed by mobile operators, service providers and its community around the world. Funambol v6.5 applies several optimizations to its push capabilities. The Funambol server can better detect new email and PIM data, and can push this to more mass market handsets while reducing network traffic and conserving mobile phone power.

"The world is still looking for an alternative to BlackBerry for the mass market and now we are a major step closer," said Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of Funambol. "Thanks to clever designers and energetic coders in our company and community, more people all over the world can now get open source push email."

Funambol v6.5 includes several other significant enhancements:

• Multimedia content sync. Funambol has been enhanced to synchronize large objects. The Funambol v6.5 server and the Windows Mobile and Outlook plug-ins can now sync contact photos. This syncing of multimedia content will be expanded for more multimedia content and Funambol clients over time.

• Improved Carrier Edition scalability. Carrier Edition is the commercial version of Funambol software for mobile operators, service providers and portals. Funambol v6.5 has a redesigned high availability framework for all Funambol server components. It improves load balancing and automatic load redistribution and it eliminates any single point of failure. Funambol v6.5 also includes management tools for monitoring the system's health and load.

• Broader device compatibility to support the latest mobile phones. Funambol's global open source community helps test and improve Funambol on mobile phones around the globe, enabling Funambol to support more handsets than any other provider of mobile email. v6.5 broadens Funambol's device compatibility by providing synclets to support over 800 new models of phones. The Funambol Java ME mobile email client has been certified to run on 150 additional Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones. This updated device support is contained in the latest Funambol phone pack that is part of the commercial Funambol Carrier Edition.

• Portal enhancements. Funambol v6.5 includes numerous ease-of-use improvements to the Funambol portal, which is part of Funambol Carrier Edition. These include streamlined user signup and activation, and an enhanced user profile page. These will be incorporated into the free myFUNAMBOL portal when it is upgraded in the coming weeks.

• Enhanced Funambol clients. The Funambol Windows Mobile plug-in, in addition to push optimizations and photo sync, sports a refined user interface. The Funambol Java ME mobile email client adds address book search, more shortcut keys, "call sender" while viewing a message and the ability to control the sound and vibration for incoming messages.